Brisbane Festival Artistic Director, Noel Staunton launched his first festival programme in spectacular fashion at the Plaza in front of the Brisbane Powerhouse.

The 22 day programme, from September 4 to 25, will bring a heady combination of companies, artists and shows to Brisbane during the city’s festival month.

Noel Staunton says “I am very excited to present my first Brisbane Festival programme. I have been working to secure what I think are some of the most engaging, vibrant and interesting artists.

“I’m proud that we will present five world premiere productions in 2010, seven Queensland premieres and ten Australian premieres. I’ve made a point of working with many Australian artists this year alongside a select group of international guests. We have also achieved a great balance of ticketed and free community events.

“We are creating a completely new space, the QUT Festival Theatre, on the Powerhouse Plaza, that will play host to some wonderful works including Macbeth featuring Marcus Graham and Helen Christinson, two new productions by Circa and a special concert by Robert Forster. Theatre under the stars seems very Brisbane to me.”

Brisbane Festival 2010 will commence on Saturday 4 September with the spectacular fireworks that is QBE Riverfire. A much loved family event, QBE Riverfire will bring the people of Brisbane to the shores of their river to see the ultimate fireworks extravaganza set against a specially created soundtrack on Triple M and broadcast live on Channel 9.

Following the fireworks, crowds can kick along to two live music events. You might like to head to the Opening Night Party at The Spiegeltent to keep the opening night festivities going into the wee hours. Also on opening night, over at the Brisbane Powerhouse the popular FRANKLY! It’s a Pop Festival is back after a most successful debut last year. The bumper crop of artists on the 2010 bill includes Xiu Xiu, Crayon Fields, Guy Blackman and Fabulous Diamonds.

In 2010, Brisbane Festival will bring some of the world’s most celebrated and prolific artists to Brisbane.

Acclaimed choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui worked with the world famous Shaolin Monks and Tuner Prize winning artist Antony Gormley to create his breathtaking contemporary movement piece, Sutra. Combining faith, imagination and stunning acrobatics, this awe-inspiring spiritual exploration is based on Buddhist rituals and traditions.

Havana’s Danza Contemporánea de Cuba is renowned for its dancers’ fluidity, fire and sheer physical artistry, the company has devised a new language of dance, a pungent blend of Afro-Caribbean expression, classical European ballet and American modernism. They will present two ninety minute programmes for Brisbane Festival 2010.

Also from Cuba, Brisbane Festival 2010 welcomes international ballet sensation, the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, will bring their exuberant and highly individual style of classical ballet to Australia for an exclusive Brisbane Festival season 24 September to 3 October. One of the world’s great dance companies, Ballet Nacional de Cuba will present their acclaimed production of Don Quixote.

In a career spanning five decades Douglas Kirkland has photographed the world’s most celebrated figures, shot stills for over 160 major films, published numerous books and continuously recreated and redefined the art of portraiture. Kirkland’s iconic images straddle the line between capturing and exposing the intimate world his subjects inhabit from Marilyn Monroe to Michael Jackson. Brisbane Festival will stage a major retrospective of his work Douglas Kirkland: A life in Pictures at the Gallery of Modern Art.

Brisbane audiences will be the first to view the on-stage spectacular that is Shanghai Lady Killer when the show makes its international debut at Brisbane Festival 2010. This fantastic new work by Australian filmmaker Tony Ayres and Stalker Theatre Company features Wang Fei, one of China’s leading martial arts film stars. Popularised by the Shaw Brothers studios in the 1960s and revisited in Kill Bill and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon - the Wuxia genre is the primary inspiration for this contemporary Australian stage production.

2 Winner of both the ‘Outstanding Performance by a Male Dancer’ and ‘Outstanding Achievement in Choreography’ awards at the 2010 Australian Dance Awards, The Oracle was described as “articulate and intricate...distinctly individual and always entrancing”. This must see production showcases the immense talents of celebrated choreographer Meryl Tankard and her collaborator, dancer Paul White.

Paul Dyer’s four-time ARIA award winning Australian Brandenburg Orchestra has performed for audiences all over the world. At Brisbane Festival 2010 they team up with Paris-based L’Arpeggiata to present Baroque Tarantella, a high-energy interpretation of traditional songs from the renaissance and baroque eras mixed with vocal and instrumental improvisations.

On Saturday 25 September, Brisbane will be treated to a very special concert of Belshazzar’s Feast and the Last Night Of The Proms. Performed by Queensland Symphony Orchestra, audiences will witness The Queensland Choir and Brisbane Chorale on stage together for the first time, under the baton of one of England’s finest conductors, Paul Watkins.

After successful runs in Sydney, Perth and New Zealand, Brisbane audiences will also have the opportunity to see Shaun Parker’s Happy As Larry on stage at the Brisbane Powerhouse. Along with long time collaborators Nick Wales and Bree van Reyk, who provide the electro-acoustic score, Parker delivers a fun, contemporary dance performance that explores the concept and elusiveness of happiness.

Designed by Justin Nardella from Bright Young Things, the purpose built QUT Festival Theatre, under the stars on the Powerhouse Plaza will host an extravaganza of circus, music and drama throughout festival month.

Performances including Shakespeare’s Macbeth featuring Marcus Graham in the title role, two world premiere productions by Brisbane’s internationally acclaimed Circa, a musical tribute to Brisbane from singing sensation Robert Forster, songstress Casey Donovan in her new show Big Bold & Sexy, a nightmarish comedy by Edinburgh Fringe Festival hit The Dark Party by Dirty Brothers Sideshow and more will bring this new alfresco venue alive throughout the festival.

On stage inside the Powerhouse, Angus Cerini’s Wretch digs deep into the relationship between a mother and her son as she visits him in prison. It is a powerful piece about the things we do for love and the things we do despite it. Fans of Samuel Beckett will not want to the Gare St. Lazare Players when they visit Australia for the first time to perform Beckett’s dark and humours early novella, First Love.

Brisbane’s favourite hub during festival month, The Spiegeltent will this year take pride of place in King George Square, playing host to a new raunchy cabaret production Cantina, as well as an exciting line-up of indie acts from Australia and abroad. Highlights of The 7.00 Show line-up include First Aid Kit, Paul Dempsey, Ed Kuepper, Oh Mercy, Buck 65, The Gin Club and more.

Brisbane Festival is taking one weird and wacky, free road show to suburban parks across the city with specially commissioned interactive theatre piece Are We There Yet? With influences from The Kumars to old school vaudeville, the Are We There Yet? caravans will roll into parks across Brisbane over four weekends.

Other free events in the suburbs include the popular Into Africa at Yeronga, West End...LIVE , Sunsuper Breakfast the morning after QBE Riverfire and two special music events at Eagle Farm Racecourse, Opera Under the Stars and Symphony at Sunset.

The ever popular, and oh so Queensland, Brisbane Backyards series of concerts is back in 2010. Co hosted with local residents, each concert is a totally unique experience. This series of shows always books out well in advance so interested parties are advised to book early.

Finally, for those who enjoy life on the wild side, UNDER THE RADAR – the festival’s rambunctious collection of fringe theatre artists - is back with a huge programme of in-theatre and street based performance that will delight, surprise and quite likely in some instances...bemuse.